Africa-America's most famous and inspiring poets and writers, Maya Angelou, has died.
She died last night with her family by her side in a Winston-Salem, North Carolina hospital while recovering from an illness.

The famed author was to be honored this Friday with the Beacon of Life Award at Major League Baseball's Civil Rights Game when she fell ill and had to cancel.

Angelou has received more than 30 honorary degrees from universities around the world. She published 7 autobiographies, 3 books of essays, and several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning more than 50 years.

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou famously wrote

Nigerian Minister for Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Billionaire oil mogul, Folorunsho Alakija have been listed among Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women in the World for 2014.

59-year-old Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is ranked 44 while 63-year-old Folorunsho Alakija, Executive Vice Chairman of Famfa Oil who defeated Oprah Winfrey in 2013 to become the Richest black woman in the World is ranked 96 on the list.

Topping the list as the first is German Chancellor Angela Merkel while other African on the lists are, Malawain President, Joyce Banda at 40, while Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia is ranked 70.

While Michell Obama and Oprah Winfry are 8th and 14 respectively.

Other Africa who are on the list are the Liberian President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (70th) and Malawi's first female president, Joyce Banda (40th).

One of the most controversial pop singers in the world Lady Gaga once again played with fire as she stripped during her show in CanadaThe American star remained just in her fishnet stockings and a thong and was changing the costumes right on the stage. The crowd of fans amounting some 14,000 people witnessed the "great baring".

It's not the first time the performer has stripped down to the delight of her fans. End of March, New York concert: Lady Gaga flashed her back in the revealing outfit leaving nothing to imagination.

Pope Benedict the Sixteen seen in a warm embrace with Jewish Rabbi (Abraham Skorka) & Muslim Iman (Omar Abboud) at the Western 'wailing' wall of Jerusalem during his state visit to Jerusalem recently. This Pope is phenomenal.

A revealing photograph of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, has been published by the German newspaper Bild.

The German publication, which covers celebrity news and gossip in a tabloid style, has published images of the duchess suffering from a wardrobe malfunction caused by a gust of wind in Australia last month.

In the image, Prince William has his hand around his wife’s back and they are walking away from the camera, but the duchess’s Diane Von Furstenberg dress is flying up to reveal her bare bottom. The online image appeared next to photos of two of the Kardashian sisters under a provocative headline.

"Bild’s decision is likely to have infuriated the Cambridges, but Clarence House refused to comment today," the Daily Mail reported. "The pictures were offered to the British press — who refused them — so the photographer sold them to the ‘highest bidder’ around the world, according to the Daily Star."

There is some question as to possible fallout from the photograph, particularly since Prince William and Duchess Kate have previously taken on others they believed had violated their privacy. In 2012, they famously won an injunction against a French magazine, Closer, which had published topless photos of Kate.

The news of the recent photo follows recent revelations in a British court that Kate’s voicemail was hacked more than 100 times prior to her 2011 wedding to Prince William. Clive Goodman, the former royal editor of the News of the World royal editor who, along with several others is on trial for the hacking, testified in London that Kate, Prince William and Prince Harry had been victimized repeatedly. The trial has rocked Britain and sparked new discussions about media ethics.

The pursuit of members of the royal family by paparazzi has been a hotly debated subject since Prince William’s mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in a Paris car crash in 1997. Diana’s vehicle was being chased by photographers on motorcycles at the time of the accident.

The publication took great umbrage when Britain’s Sun published photos of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s bare bum while she was changing into her bathing suit during an Italian holiday in 2006.

Bild, according to Spiegel, "vented its outrage on Tuesday in an article headlined ‘Brits Lampoon Our Chancellor’ and asked: ‘Where does this hatred come from? These are photos of private activities that no one would want to see of himself in the newspaper.’

Born in Wales, given his big break at Southampton and later honed at Tottenham, the 24-year-old continued to make light of his world-record fee by scoring a goal that will write him into club history.

Bale looked set to pay for a woeful first-half miss but instead capped a remarkable first season at Real by heading home to make it 2-1 in extra time, before Carlo Ancelotti's men eased away to a 4-1 win.

The Wales winger looked like he would pay for missing a gilt-edged chance to open the scoring midway through the first half as shortly afterwards captain Iker Casillas misread a ball back into the box and was unable to claw back Diego Godin's header before it crossed the line.

It looked to be enough to secure a famous double for Los Rojiblancos until the third minute of stoppage time, when Sergio Ramos powered home a leveller - his sixth goal in seven outings.

That was a sucker-punch for Atletico, without top scorer Diego Costa since the ninth minute, and one they failed to recover from, with summer signing Bale heading Real ahead in the second-half of extra time.

Substitute Marcelo's strike and a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo added extra gloss to the scoreline at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, securing Real's 10th European Cup crown and Ancelotti's third as manager, seeing him join Liverpool's Bob Paisley in the record books.

Counterpart Diego Simeone, so close to victory, lost it in the closing stages as he confronted Raphael Varane at the end of a memorable first cross-city showpiece in the 59-year history of the competition.

Heading into the game, the big news was Costa's inclusion in the Atletico starting line-up.

The Spain striker limped off with a hamstring injury during last weekend's Primera Division decider at Barcelona, but was given the green light after reportedly going through horse placenta treatment.

However, that gamble did not pay off as he lasted just nine minutes before appearing to suffer a recurrence of his hamstring complaint and being replaced by Adrian Lopez.

It was a terrible start for Atletico but they soon managed the first shot of the evening as Raul Garcia blazed over, but the match was unable to match the intensity with quality.

Gabi and Fabio Coentrao went head-to-head as frustration boiled over, as it did again as Garcia was booked for a poor challenge on Di Maria, which saw Ramos booked for reacting.

The resulting free-kick from Ronaldo was easily gathered by Thibaut Courtois, with Bale then missing a gilt-edged chance to net the opener.

Intercepting a poor cross-field pass from captain Tiago, the Welsh winger raced through on goal and looked set to score, only to send his send his curling effort just wide.

The leaders of tomorrow have been decimated by mindless terrorists who don't see anything wrong in snuffing life out of innocent citizens.

The effect of the twin bomb blasts that rocked the once peaceful city of Jos, the capital of Plateau State, Nigeria, is surely more than many can chew, as seven final year students of the Medical Laboratory Science of the University of Jos, lost their lives in the dastardly act on Tuesday, 20th May, 2014.

We gather that the unfortunate students were returning from a lecture at old Jos University Teaching Hospital, which is less than a hundred metres to the scene of the incident, when they were caught up in the explosion.

The students were heading for their hostels along Bauchi road when the incident that snuffed lives out of their young bodies happened.

Friday, 23 May 2014

The All Progressives Congress has raised the alarm over alleged "systematic arrest, harassment and intimidation" of its members and supporters in Gombe State by the Peoples Democratic Party-led government in the state and the police.

In a statement in Lagos on Friday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the clampdown on the APC in Gombe was similar to what obtained in Bayelsa State, over which the party had cause to raise the alarm on May 14, and was sure to extend to other states as the 2015 general elections approach.

The party said this trend was because of the "desperation and anti-democratic credentials" of the PDP.

It said the situation in Gombe State was marked by the "continuous destruction of APC property, including offices, flags, posters, banners and billboards in most of the local government areas and party headquarters.

APC added, "Sadly, the police, who are maintained by taxpayers’ funds and are expected to be non-partisan, have been providing cover for the PDP agents who engage in this destructive spree, while being quick to arrest our members and supporters who try to resist the destruction of our party’s property.

"In addition, the police engage in frequent arrest and detention of our youths and supporters, who are then charged to court in an action that is clearly aimed at weakening their resolve to exercise their constitutional rights of free association, and ultimately to destabilize our party.

"Such arrests and intimidation of our youth and other supporters have occurred in Dukku, Balanga, Kaltungo, Akko, Nafada and Gombe, and the latest occurred a few days ago involving the mass arrest of our members, especially youths."

The party expressed concern that the arrests and other acts of intimidation might increase, as the police in Gombe Division had allegedly been tacitly empowered with a fleet of Hilux vans to destabilize the APC in the state.

It reminded the police that the destabilisation of opposition political parties, arrest and intimidation of opposition members and supporters and the provision of cover for thugs to destroy the property of opposition political parties were not part of the constitutional duties of the police.

"On our part, we will continue to monitor and document these acts of brigandage and the role of the police, with a view to ensuring that they are lawfully challenged in due course. We also call on the police hierarchy to caution their officers and men in Gombe," it said.

Alyssa Funke, a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Wisconsin’s River Falls shot herself to death after she was being cyber bullied by her former classmates for participating in an amateur porn movie.

Funke, a straight-A student, flew out to Las Vegas to film her first and only porn video for the 'Casting Couch' porn flick earlier this year. She used the name Stella Ann, and talked with the cameraman about the sports she played in high school, her biology major, and her goal of becoming an anesthesiologist. She was 18 at the time.

Just a few days after the video was posted online, Funke started receiving taunting and nasty messages on Facebook and Twitter, especially from her former peers at Stillwater High School in Minnesota.

Funke seemed to have brushed off the hateful messages as she took to twitter to say "Famous for dayzzzzzzz," and "Pornstar Status."

But it seems like the taunts from former classmates started getting to her and on April 16, she drove out to Big Carnelia Lake and took her own life with a shotgun she bought.

According to her family who said she had long suffered from depression, the online harassment contributed to her deciding to commit suicide.

On a fundraiser page they started to fight cyberbullying, they wrote, "Alyssa like so many other teens was a victim of bully and sadly the bullying lead to her death. Social media has revolutionized the way people bully each other now days. Now you can say whatever you want and not have to look the person in the face while doing it."

Meanwhile, the Washington County (Minn.) Sheriff's Office is investigating the circumstances of Funke's death.

"The vampire is in town! LOL! Loving the gothic make up!" Miss Sahhara wrote. Iris Sahhara Henson, 29, formerly known as Oche, is a transgender male now living as a woman, after her sex change operation from male to female.

Rapper Nicki Minaj has asked a federal judge in Atlanta to dismiss a $30m (£17.8m) legal claim against her by her former wig designer.

Terrence Davidson sued the star in February, accusing her of selling wigs based on his designs without permission.

Lawyers for Minaj argued that the case should be thrown out as Mr Davidson had failed to state a valid claim.

They added he was "upset because he lost his most famous client".

Mr Davidson, who began working for Minaj in 2010, created wigs the star wore at high-profile events and in her Super Bass music video.

He claims Minaj and her team reneged on discussions to launch his own reality show and wig line, saying the star had since copied his wig designs and was selling them online.

Christopher Chestnut, Mr Davidson's lawyer, said his client's wigs "significantly contributed" to Minaj's notoriety and helped her rise to fame.

The hair stylist stopped working for the rapper in 2013, citing creative differences.

According to legal papers, Minaj's lawyers said Mr Davidson was seeking to force himself into a business relationship the star and her team had developed in a bid to receive money he had not earned.

Responding to claims Minaj prevented him from becoming a reality TV star, they said Mr Davidson's "self-described talents are insufficient to garner the same types of business opportunities he may have received when serving as [Minaj's] hairstylist".

At least 118 people were killed in a car bomb attack in the central Nigerian city of Jos, the country's relief agency said on Tuesday, warning that the death toll could rise further.

"The exact figure of the dead bodies recovered as of now is 118," Mohammed Abdulsalam, co-ordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the city, told AFP.

He added that "more bodies may be in the debris" of buildings which collapsed due to the intensity of the blasts.

Fifty-six people were injured in the twin blasts, said Abdulsalam. The military said that improvised explosive devices were hidden inside a truck and a minibus and went off within 20 minutes of each other.

Chris Olakpe, the police commissioner of Plateau state of which Jos is the capital, told reporters earlier that 46 people were killed and 45 others were injured.

He maintained later: "We are saying 46. That's the number we have in the morgues. But we are not ruling out more bodies."

Plateau state lies in the so-called Middle Belt of Nigeria, where the largely Christian south meets the mainly Muslim north, and has been the scene of long-standing ethnic and sectarian conflict for years.

It has also been hit by Boko Haram militants, who have been waging an insurgency in Nigeria's northeast since 2009.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar has ordered commissioners of police in the various commands to commence security audit and threats analysis of all boarding schools nationwide.

The measure is aimed at assisting the police and other security agencies design security strategies that could help promote safety and security in schools in within the country.

The exercise is coming amid threats of attacks and abduction of secondary school students in certain parts of the country by the Boko Haram insurgents.

A statement yesterday by the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba said the exercise would help in reducing the vulnerability of the schools to terrorist attacks.

Police said the measure was part of deliberate and proactive efforts geared towards bolstering security network around boarding schools nationwide and also the safety and security of students and other stakeholders in the nation’s secondary schools.

The statement added that the commissioners of police would be working in conjunction with other security agencies, the Ministry of Education in the states and management of the schools.

Other partners include Parents/Teachers Associations, the host communities and other stakeholders working together in intelligence gathering.

Calling for the support and cooperation of members of the public, the statement also quoted the IGP to have assured that the team would be committed to protecting the lives and property of the citizenry.

Students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, have blocked the Ife-Abuja highway to protest against the new fee regime in the institution.

The placard-carrying protesters chanted anti-Peoples Democratic Party’s songs, threatening to disrupt the coming governorship election in Osun State if the fee was not reduced.

Passengers on the federal highway were stranded as the students also blocked all exit and entry routes linking Osun State to other states in the country.

The management of OAU at its last Senate meeting, increased the fee of newly admitted students into Humanities/Social Sciences by 322 per cent; Clinical Sciences and Pharmacy by 267 per cent, and and increase of 253 per cent for those admitted into Sciences.

With the increment, new students into the federal university will pay between N92, 400 and N104, 000, including acceptance fee as against N37,150 and N44, 150 previously paid by old students.

According to the protesters, they have negotiated with the school management to reduce the fee but to know avail.

One of them, identified as Isaac, said, " We are trying our possible best to avoid confrontation, but since consultation and consolidation have failed, the whole Nigeria must hear us again as we did about three years ago. We want peace but we are not scared of crisis. We will not allow the legacy of our founding fathers to die."

It was gathered that the school management agreed to reduce N17,000 from the new charges but the students claimed it was too "insignificant".

Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain a suit filed by Mallam Lamido Sanusi challenging his suspension as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, by President Goodluck Jonathan on February 20.

Justice Gabriel Kolawole held in his judgment that the matter was labour and employment -related and therefore ordered it to be transferred to the National Industrial Court.

The judge also said the plaintiff was at liberty to challenge his decision at the Court of Appeal.

He added that he deliberately refrained from deciding the case on its merit so as not to make any prejudicial pronouncements before the matter gets to the Industrial Court.

The judge held that, in line with Sections 251(1) and 254(c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the proper court, where Sanusi ought to have instituted the suit, was the NIC.

Sanusi had through his counsel, Mr. Kola Awodein (SAN), sued Jonathan and the Attorney-General of the Federation and the police, asking the court to declare his suspension by the President null and void.

But the court upheld the objection of the President and the AGF to the suit, declaring that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the suit.

Kim Kardashian, the wife-to-be appeared in a rather revealing ensemble showing off her seductive curves. She was wearing a pink low cut top showing her impressive sideboob and matched it with grey pencil skirt has she takes a walk in Paris.

Strolling the streets of the most romantic European city, the 33-year-old beauty was accompanied by her precious fiance. The couple was seen shopping and later heading to their favorite French restaurant.

Monday, 19 May 2014

Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal will take over as the new manager of Manchester United after the World Cup, the club announced Monday.
Van Gaal, who has signed a three-year contract, will have United great Ryan Giggs as his assistant.

Announcing the appointments, Manchester United vice-chairman, Ed Woodward said: "In Louis van Gaal, we have secured the services of one of the outstanding managers in the game today. He has achieved many things in his career to date and Old Trafford provides him with a fitting stage on which to write new chapters in the Manchester United story.

"Everyone is very excited about this new phase in the club’s history. His track record of success in winning leagues and cups across Europe throughout his career makes him the perfect choice for us.

"People know him as a larger than life character but I have also been extremely impressed by his intelligence, thoughtful approach to the role and his diligence. I’m looking forward to working with him.

"I’m delighted that Louis has chosen Ryan as his assistant. Ryan’s association with the club spans over two decades and his knowledge and stature will be of great use to Louis. In addition, this is a fantastic opportunity for Ryan to learn his trade alongside a world-class manager whose attacking instincts and belief in youth are tailor-made for Manchester United.’

Pleased with his new appointment, Van Gaal said: "It was always a wish for me to work in the Premier League. To work as a manager for Manchester United, the biggest club in the world, makes me very proud.

"I have managed in games at Old Trafford before and know what an incredible arena Old Trafford is and how passionate and knowledgeable the fans are. This club has big ambitions; I too have big ambitions. Together I’m sure we will make history."

His assistant manager, Ryan Giggs also said: "I am thrilled to have the chance to serve as assistant manager. Louis van Gaal is a world-class coach and I know I will learn a lot about coaching from being able to observe and contribute at such close quarters.

"Manchester United has been a huge part of my life and I’m delighted to be able to continue that relationship in such a key role."

A statement from Manchester United read: ‘Louis van Gaal will take over as manager of Manchester United from the 2014/15 season. He has signed a three-year contract.

"Louis, 62, has managed at the top level of European football for over 20 years and in that time has won domestic titles and domestic cups in three countries, as well as the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Cup, an Intercontinental Cup, two UEFA Super Cups and domestic Super Cups in Holland and Germany.

"He will take up his post after the FIFA World Cup, where he will manage the Dutch national team. Ryan Giggs, English football’s most decorated footballer and the United player with most appearances in the club’s history, has been appointed as assistant manager. Ryan took charge of the first team for the last four matches of the 2013/14 season."

Real Housewives of Atlanta star and former Miss USA, Kenya Moore, 43, showed off her impressive body as she stripped down for 12 steamy photos for Cynthia Bailey Modeling Agency 2014 CalendarCheck this out......

About Me

Ijibayiwa Seyi J. is a Nigerian writer, song writer and a poet. Also a lover of the web.
My belief is that the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in the place of comfort but how he is able to manage challenges in the place of discomfort.